Individual Author Record

General Information

Name: Fred Mitchell

Illinois Connection

Mitchell lives in Chicago. He is a sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune.

Biographical and Professional Information

Mitchell is a journalist and author. He has been a sportswriter and columnist with the Chicago Tribune for over 30 years, covering major sporting events including the Super Bowl, World Series, National Basketball Association Finals and Summer Olympics. Mitchell was his newspaper’s beat reporter covering the Chicago Cubs from 1983-88. The author of several books, Mitchell has been honored by the Washington Journalism Review, the All-American Football Foundation, and the Chicago Tribune for outstanding writing. He appears regularly on Chicago television, offering his commentary on the local and national sports scene.

Published Works

Here come the '86 Cubs: Will this year's sleeper team strong-arm its way to the top?, Bonus Books , 1986

The record-breaking football player shares the story of his life, from his Omaha, Nebraska, upbringing and his All-American college career, to his accomplishments with the Chicago Bears before an injury cut short his spectacular professional career.

Here is your chance to go inside the huddle, head into the locker room, or grab a seat on the sidelines. This is your exclusive pass to get on the team plane or have breakfast at the team hotel. Go behind the scenes and peek into the private world of the players, coaches, and decision makers and eavesdrop on their conversations. True Chicago Bears fans don't need to read about the history of the team because most of them have lived it. However, there are many interesting and humorous behind-the-scenes stories about some of the Bears' most beloved and infamous players and coaches that many.

One of the most popular Cubs of all timeand now an executive advisor for the teamWilliams reminisces about his early years, his Hall of Fame career, and his five decades in the game in this inspirational autobiography. In Billy Williams: My Sweet-Swinging Lifetime with the Cubs, he remembers the sturdy values and selfless devotion of the people from Whistler who helped shape his character; people like Lilly Dixon, his grade school principal, and Virgil Rhodes, his high school coach, both of whom he remembered in his Hall of Fame induction speech, and also his father who lived long enough to see his son play in the big leagues.